Catfish and the Bottlemen Kick off North American Tour in L.A. to Die Hard Fans

Joseph Baura

After opening for Mumford & Sons at the Greek Theatre for a wild sold-out show, Catfish and the Bottlemen stuck around Los Angeles to kick off their North American tour. Headed by lead singer, Van McCann, CATB has been around since 2007, but truly hit their stride until 2014’s debut album “The Balcony.” With their second release, 2016’s “The Ride,” CATB has reached another level, headlining Manchester‘s Castlefield Bowl and getting a couple of their songs featured in the latest FIFA 2017 video game.

The Worn Flints opened up for Catfish and the Bottlemen at the Wiltern, bringing an amazing energy to the crowd shortly before the main show began. The crowd had an air of anxiousness that shifted to sheer excitement when the lights suddenly went black, and a thunderous roar welcomed CATB to the stage. Opening with “Homesick,”  McCaan stood in the dark with the rest of the band as they slowly let the song climb before erupting mid-song into the songs chorus, sending the crowd into a frenzy. As loud as McCaan was singing, it was so difficult to hear him over the singing of the crowd who knew every word of the lyric. 

Going between their two studio albums, CATB played fan favorites like “Kathleen,” while also taking time to perform more recent hits like “Soundcheck.” McCann’s energy in both his guitar playing and singing was extremely infectious and bled over to his bandmates. In the same fashion that their debut album concludes, Catfish and the Bottlemen ended the night with their song, “Tyrants,” which was met with overwhelming response. While the Catfish and the Bottlemen aren’t scheduled for another California show anytime soon, if you’re willing to take a trip out to Las Vegas for the weekend, they’ll be stopping by at the Life Is Beautiful festival.

Catfish and the Bottlemen kicked off their North American tour at The Wiltern Sept. 22